Two-piece closely settable and lockable hair roller device



July 2, 1968 R. TRABISH' 3,390,690

TWO-PIECE CLOSELY SETTABLE AND LOCKABLE. HAIR ROLLER DEVICE Filed Aug.2, 1965 Ivvz-wrae.

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United States Patent 3,390,690 TWO-PIECE CLOSELY SET'IABLE AND LOCKABLEHAIR ROLLER DEVICE Robert Trabish, Van Nuys, Calif., assignor to RobertRome, San Francisco, Calif. Filed Aug. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 476,411 1Claim. (Cl. 132-40) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE An interlocked, two-piecehair roller device having one roller provided with outwardly extendingcomb elements and a second roller telescopically related to the firstroller, the second roller when extended being adapted for use as ahandle and, when telescopically received within the one roller, havingexternal tines integral therewith cooperable with the comb elements androller to hold strands of hair.

This invention relates to a hair roller device and, more particularly,to an interlocked, two-piece, closely settable and lockable hair rollerdevice adapted to facilitate styling and setting of hair.

Prior proposed hair roller devices have included stilt, generally rigid,cylindrical members upon which strands of hair were rolled. Such stifirollers were difiicult and uncomfortable to rest the head upon whensleeping. With such prior proposed rollers, the strands of hair rolledthereon were usually secured by pins or clips. Usually, securement ofthe pin or clip on the roller was difficult to perform when the rollerwas snug and tightly turned against the scalp. Some prior roller deviceswere inadequately vented so that drying of the hair rolled upon thedevice required a relatively long period of time.

The present invention contemplates a hair roller device which not onlyobviates disadvantages of prior proposed roller devices but, also,includes new advantages which greatly facilitate the setting and stylingof hair. Generally speaking, the present invention contemplates a pairof telescopically related inner and outer tubular members made of asoft, flexible plastic material. The outer member includes a reticulatedstructure provided with a plurality of rows of comb elements for stylingand combing the hair as it is prepared for rolling. The inner memberincludes a longitudinally slotted construction cooperable with thereticulations for providing adequate venting of the roller device. Theinner member also includes integral pins or tine members extending fromone end thereof, externally of the outer member so as to gently lock andhold the hair in place without loosening or slipping. Interlock meansare provided on the inner and outer members so that when the members arein longitudinally extended relation, the inner member may serve as ahandle for the outer member for facilitating rolling of the hair on theouter member, the interlocking means restricting relative rotation ofthe pair of members. After the hair is wound on the outer member, theinner member with the external tine members may be longitudinallydisplaced into closed telescopic relation with the outer member so thatthe tine members lock and hold the hair in place on the outer member.

The primary object of this invention therefore is to disclose andprovide a novel, two-piece hair roller device for facilitating thesetting and styling of hair and which may be handled and manipulated asa unit.

An object of the invention is to disclose and provide a hair rollerdevice in which the roller members are made of soft, flexible,lightweight plastic material.

A further object of the invention is to disclose and 3,390,690 PatentedJuly 2, 1968 ice provide a hair roller device including a pair oftelescopically related inner and outer members in which the outer memberis provided with comb elements so arranged as to eliminate or reduce toa minimum tangling or knotting of the hair and to facilitate maintainingstrands of hair in combed relation while being rolled upon the outerroller.

Another object of the invention is to disclose and provide a pair ofhair roller members which are maintained in assembly by interlock meansand which are well vented even when in closed telescopic relation.

Still another object of the invention is to disclose and provide a pairof telescopically related inner and outer hair roller members whereininterlock means on said members permit use of one member as a handle forfacilitating setting or rolling of the hair while permitting relativelongitudinal displacement of said members for locking hair in place onthe outer roller.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdescription of the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of thisinvention.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a hair roller device embodying this invention,and shown in extended telescopic relation;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane indicated byline IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane indicated byline IIIIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in the plane indicated by line IVIV ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the device in FIG. 1 shown in closed telescopicrelation;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane indicated byline VI-VI of FIG. 5.

A hair roller device embodying this invention is generally indicated at10 and generally comprises an outer cylindrical member 11 telescopicallyreceiving therewithin an inner tubular member 12 provided with hairlocking tine members 14 extending from one end thereof and integraltherewith. Locking means for holding the inner and outer members inassembled longitudinally displaceable relation and restricting relativerotation thereof are provided on the outer and inner members 11 and 12as described hereafter.

Outer member 11 includes a hollow, cylindrical outer roller body member16 having open ends and of generally uniform diameter. Outer member 11may be made of a suitable, thermoplastic material, such as polyethylene,which is soft, flexible and collapsible under pressure while maintainingdimensional stability when not under pressure. The cylindrical wall ofouter member 11 is of reticulated form and provided with a plurality ofgenerally rectangular openings 17 defined by longitudinally or axiallyextending rib portions 18 and longitudinally spaced continuous ringportions 19 which maintain dimensional stability of the generallycircular cross-section of the outer member 11 throughout its length. Theinternal cylindrical surface of outer member 11 is smooth to facilitatesliding of the inner member 12 therewithin.

Each rib portion 18 is provided with a plurality of closely spaced,outwardly projecting comb elements 21, said comb elements 21 along eachrib forming a row of comb elements extending for approximately theentire length of the outer member 11. At one end of outer member 11,comb elements 21 terminate in spaced relation from the proximate end adistance of a reticulated opening 17. In this example, certain of saidreticulated spaces are filled with plastic material as at 22 to providea base or suflicient material for lock means as later described. Combelements of each row may be slightly offset longitudinally with respectto the adjacent row. It may also be noted from FIG. 6 that the combelements in diametrically opposite rows 21a extend outwardly along adiameter or at 90 to a plane tangent to the cylindrical member 11 at thebase of the comb elements. Comb elements lying in rows, such as 21b,which lie between rows 21a, may be formed at an angle to their tangentplanes, the angle of inclination of rows 21b proximate to row 21a beingthe least while the angle of inclination of the comb row spacedapproximately 90 from row 21a is the greatest or approximately 90. Thus,the longitudinal offsetting of comb elements of adjacent rows, togetherwith the varying angular inclination of the comb elements with respectto their tangent planes to the cylindrical surface of outer member 11provides a comb structure on outer roller member 11 which facilitatessetting and styling of strands of hair and which holds the hair in thedesired selected positon. it should also be noted that ring portions 19include a comb element 23 between the comb rows 21b and thus provideadditional rows of comb elements which are spaced apart the spacing ofthe ring portions 19.

Inner member 12 may comprise a hollow, open-ended, cylindrical innerbody member 25 having a length approximately the length of outer member11 and having an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameterof outer member 11 so as to facilitate close longitudinal slidingrelationship of the two members. The inner member 12 may be made from asuitable plastic material such as polypropylene, which, in addition tobeing soft and flexible, may also be resilient. Inner body member 25 maybe of longitudinally slotted construction and may comprise a pluralityof circumferentially spaced =bar portions 26 defining therebetween slots27 and 28, slots 27 being slightly shorter than slots 28 which extendfor substantially the entire length of inner member 12. At one end,inner member 12 is provided with a radially outwardly extending annularflange 29. Integrally formed with flange 29 and extending therefrom incircumferentially spaced relation may be a plurality of pin or tineportions 30. Tine portions 30 extend for a major portion of the lengthof inner member 12 and are spaced from the outer cylindrical surface ofinner body member 25 a sufiicient distance so that the cylindrical bodymember 16 of outer member 11 may be received between the tine portions30 and the inner body member 25. Tine portions 30 may be of trapezoidalcross-section to provide a flat edge face 31 for engagement with strandsof hair rolled on outer roller member 11. End extremities of tineportions 30 are provided with pointed and upwardly tapered ends 32 tofacilitate movement of the tine portions over the strands of hair. Sincethe inner body member is made of polypropylene and is resilient, thetine portions may be bent slightly outwardly by the hair strands andWill exert a resilient pressure holding force on the hair strands whenthe two members are in collapsed telescopic relationship.

It should be noted that when the two members are in closed telescopicrelation, the time portions 39 fall between rows of comb elements 21.The internal edge face 31 of each comb element normally lies below theouter points of comb elements 21 so that hair rolled on outer roller 11is securely positioned and held in place for setting.

Locking means for locking the outer and inner members 11 and 12 inassembled, longitudinally displaceable relation and for restrictingrelative rotation thereof may include a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced internal lock elements 35 projecting inwardly from a portion ofthe base material 22 on outer member 11 and adjacent one end thereof.Each lock element 35 includes an inwardly directed abutment face 36 forabutting engagement with end wall 37 of slot 26. Such abutment of lockelement 35 with end wall 37 limits relative longitudinal displacement ofinner and outer members 11 and 12 in an outward or extended telescopicrelation. The width of slot 26 is sulficiently greater than the width oflock element 35 so as to permit smooth, closely guided, slidingrelationship of the lock element 35 in slot 26. The two members are thuslongitudinally guided in sliding telescopic relation while, at the sametime, relative rotation of the two members is restricted. As a result,when the two members are in extended relation, the inner member with thetine portions may be employed as a handle for the outer member forrolling and combing the hair.

Inner and outer members 12 and 11 are held in assembly when they arelongitudinally displaced into telescopic closed relationship by theabutment of end face 38 of outer member 11 with the opposed face 39 ofannular flange 29. Thus, the inner and outer members may be movedlongitudinally relative to each other without becoming disassembled andare held against relative rotation with respect to each other by thelock means described above.

Inner and outer members 12 and 11 are readily made by well known plasticmolding processes. The two members are readily assembled with each otherby first aligning the longer slots 26 with the lock elements 35 and theninserting the inner member 12 into the outer member 11 and then forcingthe one end of the inner member 12 over the lock elements 35 so thatthey may be slidably received Within the slots 26. Since the abutmentfaces 36 lie in a radial plane and since the outer diameter and innerdiameter of members 12 and 11 afford only close sliding tolerance, itwill be apparent that the two members may be quickly readily assembledalthough disassembly becomes relatively difficult because of theinterengagement of lock elements 35 with end wall 37.

When the hair roller device 10 is used, the two members are movedrelative to each other so that they are in extended interlocked,longitudinally displaced relation. Inner member 12 may be used as ahandle for outer member 11 for stroking and combing a lock of hair whichis to be rolled upon outer member 11. After the lock of hair has beenstroked and combed and is then rolled upon outer member 11, the innermember 12 is again used as a handle to roll the lock of hair upon outermember 11. After the lock of hair is rolled into the desired position,it may be readily secured on outer member 11 by simply telescoping theinner member 12 into the outer member 11 so that the tine portions 30overlie the lock of hair and secure the hair in place. Sincemanipulation of the two-piece hair roller device is quite convenient andsimple, the outer member 11 may be locked in position in closerelationship to the scalp if desired. When the hair device 10 is used,it will be apparent that the inner member 12, which serves as a handle,may be disposed either forwardly or rearwardly with respect to the headin accordance with the desire of the user.

It will be apparent that the soft plastic material of the tine portionswill readily slide over the lock of hair rolled upon the outer member 11and will not tangle or knot the lock of hair nor will it present a hard,metallic surface which might break or split hair ends. Since the members11 and 12 are made of soft, flexible plastic material, they arecomfortable to use and are sleepable. The plurality of tine portions 30prevent slippage or loosening of the hair roller device once the innermember 12 has been longitudinally moved into closed telescopic positionwith respect to the outer member 11. Since the inner member 12 may beused as a handle, the outer member 11 may be rolled into close, settablerelation to the scalp and may then be locked in such positionconveniently by a single longitudinal motion of the inner memebr 12 withrespect to the outer member 11.

The unitary hair roller device of this invention provided with the rowsof comb elements 211) inclined on opposite semi-cylindrical faces ofouter roller 11 as described above, permits rolling a lock of hair overor under the roller member and either right or left. In other words, thepresence of generally oppositely directed inclined comb elements in therows 21!) adjacent a row 21a facilitates the acceptance and positioningof a lock of hair on the roller for turning the roller in eitherdirection and for rolling the lock of hair either over or under theroller.

It should be noted that the integral plastic members 11 and 12 are sointerlocked and held in assembly that the device is essentially unitaryand readily handled and used as a unit.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changesand modifications in the unitary hair roller device may be made withinthe spirit of this invention and all such changes and modificationscoming within the scope of the appended claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

1. A relatively soft, flexible, dimensionally stable twopiece hairroller device comprising in combination:

a hollow cylindrical outer roller body member having an outer surfaceand open ends provided with a plurality of spaced reticulated openingsdefined by longitudinally extending rib portions and longitudinallyspaced continuous circular ring portions presenting smooth internalsurfaces and providing circular dimensional stability to the cylindricalbody member throughout its length,

said rib portions having outwardly projecting comb elements forminglongitudinally extending rows,

a hollow cylindrical inner member slidably received within said outerbody member in telescopic relation and having external resilient tinemembers integral with one end of said inner member and radial- 1youtwardly spaced from said inn-er member,

said tine members being biased inwardly and slidable longitudinally oversaid outer body member,

each of said tine members being in juxtaposition to a comb row tocooperate therewith for holding said inner and outer members in hairsetting position;

and means inwardly of the outer surface of the outer body member forlocking said inner and outer members in assembled longitudinallydisplaceable relation and restricting relative rotation thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1959 Weldon 132-33 9/1963Trabish 13233

